Signaling the position of a ship&#39;s helm



R. S ONElL.

SIGNALING THE POSITION OF A SHIPS HELM.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. n. 1920.

1,377,427. Patented May 10, .1921.

2 SHEETSSHEET i.

R. s. ONEIL. SIGNALING THE POSITION 01 A SHIPS HELM- APPLICATION HLEDFEB. 11. 1920- 1,377,427, Batented May 10, 1921.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

W, fifwy/ 3% @264 .15 I V sociated with the rudder movement ma I armconnected directly to and moving with the rudder post but adiflicultywhich has RoboLrrr STUART o'NEr 'oFLoNDoN, ENGLAND] To allcoii om ai mail concern: Q

Be it known that I, RoDoLrH STUART 7 O Nm-a subject of the King of GreatBritain, and a resident of London, England, have inventedcertain new and*useful I'mprovements in and-Connected with Signalin the Position of aShips Helm, of which the'following is a specification. a

This invention relatesto improvements in) and connected with signalingtheposition 7 of a ships helm, and has reference to apparatus forenabling a captain or helmsman at all timesto informhimself as tothepositionfof the ships rudder'iat any mo ment; of that character'wherea switch as crates with stationary contacts 'to make circuits tosignalingfllamps or indicators 10-1 cated in the wheel house orotherdesired po sitionfon the ship.

In such apparatus it is important-that there shall be no possibility oferror in con- 'veying to the signal indicator the position a of therudderand for thisreason it is n'ecessary to connect the contact switchwith the rudder post or steering member so that any want of alinementorbacklash efiect will not i be communicatedto the'switch in such amanner asto interfere with the contact efiect required to operate thesignaling device correctly. For this, purpose accordlng to my inventiona flexible joint is interposed as the connecting link between the rudderpostv and the switch as hereinafter described.

It has been suggested to provide a switch been experiencedin practicearises from the fact that the rudderimoves longitudinally of its axis tosome extent and it is diflicult .to insure correct contact between themoving switch arm and its cooperating stationary contacts. The importantfeature of my present invention is the'connection of the f moving memberof the switch to the rudder post through a connection adapted to transmitthe torque of the rudder directly but to accommodate itself to theaxial movements of the rudder post.

In the accompanying drawings I have" illustrated my invention, Figure 1being a diagrammatic elevation of the connection of the rudder to thecontact drumor brush and also the electrical connections to the indicator. I, v a

Specification of Letters'Patent.

Application filed etail-5 1, 1920. Serial vno. 357,890 j J sIe-ALINo-{uns rosrrron or A SHIPS I Fig- 2 is a detail of the rudder Pa andconnectionsg a i Fig. 3 is a section on line3+3,' Fig. 2.

V Referring to the drawing; the numeral 1 designates the rudderpostcwhich is connected-by arod 2 and universalcouplings 3 and 4 teacontact drum '5. The member mountedin a bearing 3? in or uponthe rudderpost a keyor feather 3 being provided the rudderand also arranging saidmember for sliding movement and a spring'3 is provided to give a springmountingito the member "3. The said key is'hereqshown as Patented ma@1921. 7

' s er the universal coupling 3 is slidably to'insure rotation ofsaidmember 3 with c f f m'ovablein a slot3 in oinesideof the member- 3 vThisarrangement of mounting is I important infpracti'ce in order a compen'sate for relatlve -aX1al movements between the rudder post and thecontact drum. The

contact drum 5 has itscontacts arranged to correspond-with certainpositions of the a rudder.

For'the, present is only necessaryto considerthree positions correspondH ing to the central position of theirudder and positions both to portand"starboard.

Thecontact drum 5 moves with the rudder postl', and I provide a pair ofcontacts 7 and 8, one corresponding to port and theother to itstarboard. These contaets'7 and 8 are arranged on the drum on either sideof the central position and one or othr of them contact either7 or 8 tocomplete the circult of an electric lamp or indicator7 or 8 respectivelyeach of a particular color,

serves, by cooperation with a stationary With the rudder inprecisely thecentral po- 7 sition neither of the drum'cont'acts Tand 8 will engagetheir respective cooperating staa tionary contacts 7 and 8 and no freshindication will be given, but'any deviation of the rudder from'thecentral position willcause the drum contacts 7 and 8 andin one or otherof the cooperating contacts 7 orv8 and one Q or otherjof the lamps 7'"or 8 will-be illumi contact to be made between oneor other of V nated orone or other of two indications 3 color and that associated with thestarately either of the lamps becomes illuminated the helmsman or otherperson pro vided with indication lamps will know that d the rudder hasmoved from the central posig made. The lamp or indicator signalassociated with the port? contact 7 may be one board contact 8 anotherso that immediwhite light or n light at all, five degrees to;

starboard,by green light, five degrees V 7 table contact makerofelectric signaling ap- This principle can of course beindefinitely'extended and further contacts and lamps 'or indicators may be providedto indicate further "positions of the rudder. For example the centralpositionm'ay be indicated by to port? red light, fifteen degreesstarboard by a combined green" and white, fifteen degrees to ;:port by acombined red and'white, While hard over on theport side may be indicatedby two red lights and hard over onfthe starboard side by two greenlights. These various positions are indicated by'reason of drumcontacts9 connected together in'lp'airs cooperating with stationary"contacts 10, throughwhich circuits to indicator coils (or lamps 11 areestablished.

Thus the various actual positions mentioned of the rudderwill besignaled. Q

It has been notedthat the central position of the rudder may beindicated by a white light or indicator and in the diagram this lamp orindicator is designated 6-. Current passespto'the drum-from the positiveline; to the stationary contact 6? with which the. drum contact 6cooperates. In the central v positionof the rudder a stationary contact6 'coincidesewith adrum contact and when the rudder moves, say fivedegrees, in either direction the drum contact-becomes separated from-thestationary contact and the white ,light goes vout, a colored lightbeingsubstituted. I 1 v What I claim and desire to secure by LettersPatent is 1. A connection "for use between the ro-j ing a rod, universalcouplings at the ends of the rod, one for attachment to such contactmaker, a slidable member attached to the other coup1ing,a bearing foratta'chment to the rudder post and in which said slidable member is"mounted for sliding movement and for turning movement therewith, to

permit axial movement between the contact maker andthe rudderpost. 1 r

2. A connect'on for use between the rotae tact maker, a slidablememberattached to' the other coupling, a bearing forattachment to the ruddepost and in which said slidable member is mounted for sliding movenientand-.for turning movement therewith,

to permit axial movementbetweenthe con- V tact maker andfthe' rudderpost, and aspring between the opposingfaces of the slidable member andbearing; a I 3. A connection for usebetween the rotatable contact makerof electric signaling apparatus and a ships rudder post, comprising arod, universalcouplings at the ends of the rod, cone for attachment tosuch contact maker, a-slidable member attached to the other coupling,a'bearing for attachment to the rudder post and in which said slidablemember is mountec liforv sliding movement and for turning movementtherewith, to permit axial movement between? the coninghaving'longitudinal grooves ,in the .in-. tenor of its side faces andsaid bearing havingfkeys engaging said grooves,and a spring between saidbearing and slidable member.

.tact maker and the rudder post, said ,beary In witness whereof Iafii'xv my signature. 1

RODOLPH: shim ONEIL.

